The Lead

History is Not Made by the Barbarians, but by the Poets

by Stewart Battle (EIRNS) — Jun. 12, 2026

The world today confronts what can only be called a dramatic picture—an extraordinary compression of catastrophic danger and genuine possibility, especially with regard to the conflicts unfolding around Iran and Ukraine. In remarks delivered to the International Peace Coalition on June 12, Helga Zepp-LaRouche emphasized that there are “extremely good and bad developments occurring simultaneously, and it will depend to a very large extent upon our action, as to which of those tendencies will prevail.”

On the surface, the most dramatic news of the day is that President Trump has declared the war with Iran over. “I have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening,” Trump announced on Truth Social, and declared that Iran had agreed “never to have a nuclear weapon.” A possible signing ceremony in Europe within days is reportedly being prepared for Vice President Vance. Qatari mediator Ali Al-Thawadi allegedly brokered the tentative agreement in overnight talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner participating by phone. While details of the agreement remain scarce, and skepticism high, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed Friday that the U.S.-Iran MOU is indeed being finalized, claiming that “The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding has never been closer.”

Whether this constitutes an actual peace—or merely a pause before the next escalation—is yet to be seen. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office was caught flat-footed by the announcement, with Israeli officials privately questioning whether Trump’s account was even accurate. More telling was the statement from Defense Minister Israel Katz, who made it clear that Israel “retains the ability to act independently” against Iran and intends to keep forces deployed across Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria—a condition wholly unacceptable to Iran. Indeed, the elephant in the room will continue to be Netanyahu and others of his radical ilk, who can blow up any arrangement if left unchecked.

Meanwhile, in Europe, a different kind of reckoning is underway. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told a panel at the ILA Berlin Air Show that “Russia is not looking for a conflict”—a remarkable public statement from the top U.S. official in NATO, and one that directly contradicts the drumbeat from European political leaders claiming the continent must be war-ready by 2029. On the same day, the ambassadors of France, Germany, and the UK requested a meeting with the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Galuzin—an unprecedented move. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed their proposals as a rehash of “Zelensky’s dead-end formula.” But the visit itself is a signal that the political ground in Europe is shifting. Italian Prime Minister Meloni, addressing her parliament, called directly for opening a dialogue with Putin and for building a new European security architecture—a formulation that the Chamber of Deputies subsequently endorsed in a formal motion, notably stripping any reference to Ukrainian “territorial integrity” from the original draft.

Against this murky, volatile backdrop—a war that may or may not be ending and a European political class sleepwalking toward war—a development of a different and deeper order deserves to be named. Zepp-LaRouche brought up the recent interventions by Pope Leo XIV, saying that these are the most important strategic developments on the planet right now. In a world careening between catastrophe and possibility, it is the moral and philosophical interventions, not the military ones, that ultimately determine the shape of history. Ideas, she insisted, are, in moments like this, “the most important currency.”

She mentioned the release of Pope Leo’s new encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, referring to it as a frontal attack on the hubris of the current class of “billionaires trying to become trillionaires.” Leo himself condemned this as a modern “Tower of Babel,” arguing that the ideals of truth, goodness, and beauty that have always been the signature of genuine civilization are being corroded in its wake. Similarly, his recent visit to Spain, where he made a plea for the dignity of migrants and raised the concept of the “right not to have to migrate,” implicitly addressing the underlying economic and political issues at play. He is pointing to the principle of “harmonious development,” Zepp-LaRouche insisted.

It could not be clearer that the Epstein class’s Tower of Babel is collapsing—unable to maintain actual peace and unable to provide a real future for the world or even itself—and therefore is creating the conditions for an entirely new organizing principle to be cognized. So, take off your ideological spectacles, and think on the level of a poet. These are the stakes of the coming weeks. The path forward requires moral clarity, historical memory, and the courage to act on both.